The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries in collaboration with the Society of Crops Agribusiness advisors of Kenya (SOCCA) has started cascading Climate Smart Agricultural practices to the counties and sub-counties in order to reach farmers countrywide and increase food production.
Stephen Mureithi, Nakuru County Climate Smart Agriculture Officer, stated that farmers would be able to continue producing food despite the threat of climate change. He suggested that effective mitigation programs at the grassroots could be implemented.
The Officer said one livestock and agricultural officer will be trained from each of the eleven sub-counties and they will be expected to train other officers and farmers on how to handle challenges of climate change but still produce food.
Mureithi spoke on Wednesday at Nakuru Agricultural training Centre at Soilo. He noted that unlike the past, when farmers just ploughed their fields, applied fertiliser, and then planted and weeded their crops and waited for harvest, climate change has changed that routine.
He stated that soil regeneration was urgently needed through treatment to reduce acidity and the planting of sufficient trees on every farm to prevent soil erosion and retain water.
He noted that the programmes agreed upon at the 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) meeting in Egypt last year in November, was being implemented in the country through the climate action department at the ministry of agriculture in collaboration with the county agricultural officers.
Mureithi encouraged farmers to plant fruits like papaws, avocados, and mangoes as they provide effective ground cover and are beneficial to families.
Other mitigation measures taken by the county include construction of water pans for dry areas like Solai in Rongai constituency.
Apart from that, he appealed to farmers to change their mindset and move away from rain-fed agriculture since it wasn’t attainable anymore. He gave an example of the current drought and said that it was disappointing that large parts of the county’s farms are still in fallow as farmers wait for the rainy season to begin planting.
He said that seasonal planting should be an end since global climate change has altered and modified seasons. It is impossible to predict when the rains and drought cycles will begin and end. As it was done in the past when the ozone layers hadn’t been affected by excess carbon monoxide.
By Veronica Bosibori
Source: kenyanews
